NYPD agrees to stop penning in demonstrators as part of settlement over 2020 Black Lives Matter protestsBy Ben Kochman
Published Sep. 5, 2023
The NYPD has agreed to overhaul the way it responds to protests — including by no longer penning in large groups of activists — as part of a settlement announced Tuesday resolving federal suits filed over its response to the 2020 George Floyd demonstrations.
The deal reached in Manhattan federal court, if approved by a judge, will end a crowd-control tactic known as “kettling,” a term that describes officers barricading in protesters before arresting or taking other actions against them.
The NYPD will also create a new “four-tiered” strategy of dealing with protests, starting with a hands-off approach to “peaceful protests,” but still allowing the department to escalate its response if officers find a demonstration to be dangerous or illegal or if it blocks major traffic arteries, under the terms of the settlement.
“Today’s agreement, stemming from the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, sets new protocols and policies in place for the NYPD when responding to spontaneous protests as we ensure that we are both protecting public safety and respecting protesters’ First Amendment rights,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement.
The city’s new protest response plan will still allow officers to pen in specific people who they deem to be dangerous or believe have committed a crime. Surrounding and boxing in a large group of people, however, without having “individualized probable cause” to arrest them will no longer be allowed, the mayor’s office said.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/09/05/nypd-to-stop-kettling-protestors-under-terms-of-new-settlement/
